May 2, 2012, Vol 307, No. 17, Pages 1775-1877

To determine the effect of fish oil on synthetic arteriovenous hemodialysis graft patency and cardiovascular events, Lok and coauthors assigned 201 patients with end-stage renal disease to receive fish oil or matching placebo after graft creation. In a related ⁴¹⁰¹, Dixon discusses increasing the use of hemodialysis grafts accompanied by administration of fish oil to prolong graft patency.

Stone and coauthors investigated whether bolus intracoronary abciximab and manual aspiration thrombectomy reduce infarct size or improve clinical outcomes after primary percutaneous coronary intervention in patients with large anterior ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction.

In a retrospective population-based cohort study involving 92 735 older women with incident invasive breast cancer, Smith and colleagues compared risk of death, mastectomy, and long-term complications among women who after lumpectomy were treated with brachytherapy vs WBI.

Califf and coauthors analyzed characteristics of 96 346 clinical studies registered in ClinicalTrials.gov between October 2004 and September 2007, including the trial sponsors; sizes; and whether randomization, blinding, and data monitoring committees were used. In an ⁴²³⁰, Dickersin and Rennie trace the evolution of trial registries and some issues with the current registration system.